Event Details

Learn to take any virtual 3D file on the computer and print it into a real world object! 3d printers are the wave of the future for in-home fabrication. This technology will one day render production and distribution obsolete by allowing you to pull from a virtual product database and produce any object within your own home at the click of a button.

Intro to Makerbot and FDM 3D Printing

The Makerbot is the little brother to the ZPrinter 310. Portable, easy to fabricate, affordable materials, and only a tiny fraction of the cost of commercial printers, this desktop alternative for 3D printing makes it possible for anyone to have their very own 3D printer at home! The Makerbot is the epitome of the democratization of automated fabrication!

The key technology behind the Makerbot and almost every other desktop 3D printer under $3000 is a technology known as FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) or FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) in the open source communities. Everything from the Makerbot, to the Bukobot, UP!, Type A, Ultimaker, or Printrbot all work on this fundamental filament extrusion process of 3D printing made popular by the original Makerbot Cupcake!

From prepping, to slicing, to printing your model this class will teach you everything you need to know to operate the Makerbot Replicator 2X, starting with the fundamentals of FDM Printing on the Makerbot Cupcake. These fundamental skills can translate over to any FDM machine you may be interested in running. We will show you the in's and out's, the kinks and quirks of working with FDM 3D printing, and the rewarding outcomes that result. At the end of the day you should have a new appreciation for how this technology works, the measure of different FDM printers among a sea of diverse machines, and an operating knowledge of the Makerbot that goes far beyond the demo videos or numbers on a spec sheet.

Sunday, January 18, 2015 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (PST)

Organizer

The Build Shop

Founded in late 2011, The Build Shop was the first walk-in 3D printing shop in Los Angeles. With over five distinct brands of 3D printers using Fused Filament Fabrication, Stereolithography, and Granular Materials Binding Technologies we have the capabilities to 3D print nearly any project you want to build. If you want to do it yourself we also have a host of classes to get you up to speed to run the machines yourself!

Whether you're a small business owner looking to build a part, an artist creating their next masterpiece, student learning the cutting edge of personal prototyping, or maker looking to create their next cool gadget, if you can dream it up we can help you build it!